Queen Takes Knight
by Desodus
Summary: A short about what if Cinder and Jaune had met as children. The consequences, think of the consequences! Now a full story with updates pending!
1. Teaser

**Welcome all!**

**No monetary gain comes from this fanfic.**

**Edit: Minor edit with adding a few more words here and there.**

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><p><em>Deep breaths, that was it, just think about breathing.<em>

_In and out._

_In and out._

_There's no other care in the world other than breathing slowly._

_No thoughts about flying through the air in a metal deathtrap..._

With that though, Jaune let out a groan as a wave of pain assaulted his head, closing his eyes as he leaned back in his seat.

"Are you already feeling sick?"

Jaune grunted as he cracked an eye open to wearily glance at the speaker. "You know I've had this condition for years" he frowned at his partner's scoff. "I've told you many times; this condition is far more common than you would think!"

"We haven't even taken off yet" his companion said as Jaune closed his eyes shut again.

Even with his eyes closed tight, Jaune could _hear_ the smirk upon his companion's face, and even the hair flip as she sat back beside him.

"I told you the last dozen times..." Jaune grumbled as he leaned his head back against the cushioned seat. "I just need to not focus on the fact that I'm flying, and the best way to do that is if I curled up in a ball and fell asleep"

Suddenly, Jaune heard some rustling from beside him, and felt a familiar oppressive weight upon his thighs.

The next second, a voice began speaking to him directly beside his ear.

"I also remember us doing something else that had all of your attention..." the speaker ended that sentence by blowing slightly into his ear canal.

Jaune wasn't able to repress the shivers that racked his body; tingling going from his ear, down his spine and to the tips of his toes.

Jaune opened his eyes to see her looking back at him, their faces centimetres apart, noses almost touching.

The face before him was a flawless pale white that contrasted nicely with her black hair that rested over her shoulder to tickle Jaune's neck.

There was a playful upturn of her mouth as the two of them locked gazes.

Jaune could vividly see the simmering heat behind her dark amber eyes, drawing him into their golden depths, no matter how many times they shared a look, he would always lose the ability to speak.

She was just that breathtakingly beautiful, almost... sinfully so.

Jaune felt one of her hands come up to caress the side of his face, fingers ghosting across his cheek and over his mouth, before stopping there.

Jaune remained still, forgetting everything else in the world, other than the feeling of her finger currently tracing his open mouth, and the look of her hooded smouldering eyes.

She leaned even closer before whispering: "You should close your mouth before something flies into it" she leaned even closer now, her mouth once more right next to Jaune's ear. "Or would you like it if I closed your mouth for you?" she asked softly, lips brushing against his cheek.

Jaune took this moment to come out of his surprise as a sly smile crossed Jaune's face before he placed a hand upon her hips, while the other trailed down her straddling thigh, familiarising himself once more with her smooth legs.

"You know, there are people watching..." Jaune said, though he appeared to not mind at all as his hands continued feeling up the girl in his lap.

"Then let's give them a show to remember..." she said as she hungrily devoured Jaune's lips.

Jaune let himself go as he met her attack head on.

The world disappeared, and all that was left was the feeling of her lips, and her hands; one currently fisted in his blonde hair, while the other had snaked its way underneath his hoodie, and the feeling of her silky smooth skin and glossing black hair as his own hands wandered.

Jaune wasn't sure how long they were joined at the lips, but sadly, all that fun came to an end by a sudden interruption:

"Excuse me!" a shrill voice broke through the haze of pleasure to register in Jaune's mind. "Excuse. Me!"

Jaune briefly entertained the thought of ignoring the speaker entirely, but it was not so as he felt her lips detach themselves from his and her hands retracted from his body.

Jaune groaned, low and guttural at the loss of contact as he attempted to regain his breath.

He saw her face turn to the side, presumably to the interrupter, and he mirrored her action.

Of course, he took a moment to get peek into her cleavage as his eyes travelled past her chest.

Finally looking to the side, Jaune saw their interrupter was another girl;

She was beautiful.

This girl was wearing a lot of white, in fact, her entire outfit was white with light blue edges and a red inlay. She also had an offset ponytail of shimmering white hair.

She was also beautiful, did Jaune mention that?

Not like the simmering heat he was used to, no, nothing like the girl in his lap, but from what he sensed, she was more of a frigid beauty.

His eyes tracked over her form before coming to a rest upon the sword at her hip; it looked like a rapier, though heavily modified, especially at the guard.

"Can I help you?"

Jaune could hear the annoyance in her tone as she spoke to the girl in white.

"Have you two no sense of decency!?"

"No"

With that simple answer, Jaune felt hands grasp his face as he was forced to turn his head, and he was once more eclipsed in a pulse-pounding duel.

"Stop that!"

Once more, the two of them broke apart, now a frown adorned her beautiful face as she once more turned to the interloper of their little fun.

It was as the two girls were arguing that Jaune thought back on his life.

More importantly, he thought back on the time when he met Cinder.

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><p><strong>Seven Years Earlier<strong>

_He was having the time of his life; everywhere he looked, there was something new to see. Though he felt bad for lying to Big-sis Jeanne, after he had explicitly promised _NOT _to go into the forest with one of his older sisters with him, but he was a big boy now, he could take care of himself!_

_So this was how Jaune found himself lost in the forest, watching the tree branches sway in the breeze as he walked, taking in the calming sights as he wandered amongst the trees._

_He had no idea where he was going, but that was all part of the adventure._

_So it was a complete surprise when he chanced upon a lake of water so clear, he could see far into the center of it._

_But that was not what truly drew his attention..._

_There was another person already at this beautiful location, though, she -and it was indeed a 'she'- appeared to not be appreciating it._

_She was in fact, currently hunched over with her legs drawn up to her chest, sitting at the shore of the lake._

_As Jaune drew nearer, he was able to make out that the girl looked no bigger than him, and appeared to be around his age._

_At the same time, as he got closer, he was able to make out what sounded like crying coming from the girl._

_Jaune wasn't really sure what to do in this scenario; he rarely had any interaction with girls from his classes, and those interactions were usually were a small 'Hello' or a 'Thanks'._

_In fact, most of the time he spent with girls ever were when he was at home and with his sisters and the majority of that time was usually when his younger sister, Jane, sneaks into his room at night and won't leave._

_So it was with some trepidation that Jaune approached the crying girl; "Um, hello..." he called out weakly as he stood several metres away._

_It appeared that she hadn't heard him as she continued to cry into her dress._

_Jaune was left awkwardly standing there, unsure how to proceed, before remembering something his father said to him earlier in the week._

'Remember, Jaune, never let a girl cry, no matter what'

_So with some renewed confidence, he moved up until he was standing right behind the girl, and then he spoke again; "Hi..."_

_the girl slowly stopped crying and turned to look at him, only sniffling as she did so._

_It was then, when the two of them met eyes, that Jaune was struck dumb by the beauty of the girl before him._

_He looked into her amber eyes and found himself thinking to himself; _'I never want to see her cry, ever again. I want to make her smile forever'

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><p><em>"I'll protect you; if you want to be queen, then I'll be your shining knight"<em>

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><p><em>"This is unacceptable, Jonas, Joan!" A disapproving Qrow said from his seat behind the desk. "This is the fifth time Jaune has been caught fighting other students this month!"<em>

_"Well, at least it's less than last month... haha..." Jonas gave a weak chuckle as Qrow rolled his eyes._

_"Dear, this month only started two days ago" Joan said as she shot her husband a disapproving look, instantly shutting him up._

_"What's the cause of the fights this time, Qrow?" Joan asked with a sigh -already knowing the answer- she turned back from her husband._

_"The same reason as the fights from last month, and the month before that; some of the children were picking on Cinder again" Qrow answered with an aggravated sigh._

_At that answer, both Arcs gave a sigh of long suffering._

_"It's always Cinder" grumbled Joan._

_"Now Joan, I think it's very sweet that Jaune is so devoted to her, reminds me of our school days" Jonas said with a smile of pride. "He's found himself a girl worth devoting himself to"_

_His smile was wiped from his face as something jabbed into his ribs._

_"Why don't you tell that to our seven daughters whom feel cheated out of their brother's company!?"_

_As the patriarch and matriarch of the Arc Family argued the merits of their son's female companionship, outside the office, sat a bruised, battered, but triumphant Jaune Arc._

_The girl sitting beside him gave him a disapproving glare, causing the smile to disappear from Jaune's face._

_She then gave a sigh as she put a hand to Jaune's head and ruffled his hair, causing him to attempt to break out of her hold, but only resulting in her holding harder onto his head as she did so._

_"You need to stop picking fights with the other boys in your class" she said as she held onto Jaune, keeping him attached to her side._

_"But Jeanne..." Jaune whined. "They keep making fun of Cinder, and they won't stop, no matter how many times I beat them up"_

_Jaune scowled at the wall._

_"They're just picking on her because they know it makes you angry" Lily explained. "So you've got to be the bigger man and not beat them into a pulp, no matter how much they deserve it.. or how good it feels"_

_Jaune didn't say anything as he grumbled to himself, too quiet for Lily to hear._

_"You know, Jaune, you've been very mean to us" Lily suddenly said._

_"What?!" Jaune cried. "No, I love all of you... Even when you guys make me wear dresses!"_

_"But for the past few months, you've been spending less and less time with us" Lily chided gently._

_"I... ah..."_

_Jaune wasn't able to articulate anything and so closed his mouth after a moment of stuttering, falling silent and drooping his head in slight shame._

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><p><em>Jaune let his anger control him as he lifted up the one guy and threw him into two of his fellows. All three of them landed in an unmoving heap at the far end of the room after impacting the wall.<em>

_He might have used a little too much power there..._

_Jaune turned to the remaining two individuals and fixed them with a glare, before pointing to the open door behind him._

_The two of them shared a look for a second, before scurrying out the door, pushing each other in their mad rush to get out._

_Jaune gave another sigh as he turned to the last occupant in the room other than himself as he dusted his hands off._

_"I thought I told you to stop hanging out with those guys?"_

_"But they're so much fun to play with, such great activities" the other person answered coyly. "It's actually... exhausting even, we work up such a sweat"_

_Jaune scowled at the innuendo as he grit his teeth and his eyes narrowed. It always ended like this; she would leave him after school, or generally not even show up to classes, and then Jaune was left worrying about her before he received a call asking for help._

_It had gone on like this for two years._

_"Whatever, I'm heading home now. You go on and keep having your fun!" Jaune shook his head as he turned to leave. "Don't let _me_ stop you!"_

_But before he had taken even one step, he felt arms circled around his waist as something excruciatingly soft press into his back ..._

_Make that_ two_ somethings._

_Jaune tensed up as he prepared to extract himself with another scowl on his face; she always wheedled out of his anger by getting physical with him, but not this time._

_His hands were on her arms before she spoke, making him freeze._

_"Please..."_

_It came out as barely a whisper, but that just made it all the more clear to Jaune's ears._

_Jaune stood there with his hands upon her arms, in the process bring them from their grip around his middle; She sounded like that time again, like back at-_

_"Please don't..."_

_Jaune knew what she was doing, but that didn't stop him from going back to that day on the lakeside._

_He tried to fight it, he always did, but in the end, Jaune Arc was a person who couldn't stay mad - especially at her- or bear to see a girl troubled, so he released her arms and stood there with a sigh, all the anger and fight gone from his body._

_After a moment of silence with Cinder's arms around him, Jaune recovered himself and gave a short grunt; "I made you a promise" he said after a pause, trying to sound like he wasn't clearly wrapped around her little finger "I keep my promises"_

_Jaune was suddenly jerked to the side, and as his back impacted the wall and his mind slightly disorientated, Jaune found himself now facing her._

_"Don't worry Jaune, you will always be my knight in shining armour. I just love seeing you when you're angry" her fingers trailed along his face as she took his lips in a sudden scorching kiss before releasing him. "I just love the colour of your eyes when they harden into sapphires"_

_A weird idea popped into Jaune's head at that admission, thoughts going back to all the times he had been in fights throughout the years._

_Another part of his mind lamented at falling for her trap again._

_But the final part of his brain recognized that someone was kissing him, and chased all other thoughts away as he pressed Cinder flush against his body._

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><p>Jaune was jerked from his thoughts when a sudden chime went off inside the airship.<p>

Turning his head the other way, he was greeted with the hologram of a woman; **[Hello, and welcome to Beacon!]**

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><p><strong>So, to expand upon the summary, I have way too many ideas and too little time to write them all. Though I do enjoy writing short oneshots and snippets, I might focus in that form of writing instead of a lengthy story.<strong>


	2. Initiation Part 1

**Yo, so here be the next installment of this story. I have also decided to create an omnibus of CinderxJaune oneshots and drabble later that I will post soon.**

**All Characters shown here are property of Monty Oum and Roosterteeth.**

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><p><strong>Initiation: Part 1<strong>

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><p>Jaune expected many things going into the Beacon Initiation; He had heard some rumors of the headmaster's... eccentric behavior.<p>

So Jaune had thought up a whole bunch of scenarios of how the initiation could possible go down; ranging from knockout duels between the initiatives to monitors and judged fights between the participants and captured Grimm, or, personality tests to judge their mental state, to even no initiation at all.

Heck, Jaune even expected a written exam just to throw people off.

He had thought he had an idea at the level of risk allowed upon them...

Apparently, he was wrong, as he was currently flying through the air over the Emerald Forest, with only his imagination as a landing strategy.

Jaune didn't mind the fact that the wind was currently whipping passed his face, or the fact that he was flying through the air ungracefully - he had lost his footing when his launch pad had gone off- because this was where Jaune excelled at; thinking on the fly...

Both figuratively and literally.

So it was while he was awkwardly flung into the air that he wrapped himself in white aura, now resembling a flying comet, though somewhat misshapen and lumpy.

Although he tried, Jaune could not refrain from closing his eyes as his glowing form impacted into the trees.

Jaune's figure disappeared in the rising dust and destruction he wrought as he ripped up a visible tear into the forest treetops, toppling dozens of trees on his descent into the Emerald Forest.

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><p>Jaune coughed as he stood up from the crater he had created.<p>

Looking around to his mild surprise, he found himself amidst the dissipating pieces of what was once a beowolf, if the skull was anything to go on.

"You don't see that everyday" Jaune muttered as he scratched his head, looking at his surroundings. "Now which way is the relics?"

Jaune looked up at the treetops, trying to find the sun as a marker.

It was in this period of concentration that Jaune nearly died from a rookie mistake;

he forgot that beowolves generally travelled in packs.

The first swipe nearly took his head from his shoulders.

The second attacked resulted in the offending limb being sliced off as Jaune drew his sword, and when the beowolf opened its maw and gave a howl of pain, Jaune stabbed _Crocea Mors_ down its throat.

Pulling his sword free with a wet _SQUELCH_, the body falling flat as Jaune back stepped.

He ducked underneath a swinging arm that ended in claws before leaping clear as another beowolf charged though where he had been standing momentarily before.

Jaune held his sword in a two-handed grip as he used the momentum from his jump to add more momentum to his swing as he came back to Remnant.

the attack caught the third beowolf square at the back of the neck, and Jaune's descent did the rest of the work as the blade easily decapitated the monster.

Jaune immediately rolled to the side as a beowolf struck the ground beside him.

Releasing his left hand from the hilt of the sword, Jaune casually brushed it over the flank of beowolf beside him. The creature of Grimm was instantly consumed in a blaze of white flames, the monster not even having the time to cry in pain before turning to ashes.

Jaune stood up from his crouch as the last beowolf paused before him, its red eyes narrowed and it gave a short roar. Jaune ignored it before calmly twisted his head to the left until an audible CRACK was heard, before repeating the process to the right.

Jaune replaced his left hand back onto the hilt of _Crocea Mors_ before raising the blade parallel to his body and entering a wordless charge.

The beowolf gave once last challenging roar before it reverted to all fours and met Jaune's attack head on.

Jaune and the beowolf met in a clash of steel and claws as the collision blew the beowolf right off its feet and Jaune went down with it.

In two hands, Jaune thrust his sword down into the beowolf's chest, pinning it to the ground.

But that didn't kill the creature.

The beowolf gave a roar of pain and attempted to bring one of its claws up to rend the human on top of itself.

But it couldn't even succeed in that as its arm disappeared from forearm down. The beowolf gave one final roar of defiance that turned into a strangled whimper as Jaune grasped it by its bony skull mask, and squeezed with aura infused strength.

The beowolf's head now looked like when someone had taken an empty carton of milk, and attempted to crush it in one hand; the middle of the head scrunched inwards with the skull, and chin parts flaring out.

Jaune gracefully stood up from the remains as he wiped his face clean of blood and viscera, stepping over the body before pulling his sword clear, before turning to his sudden little helper.

Emphasis on _little_.

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><p>There were many words one could describe Cinder Fall, words like; 'beautiful', 'cunning', 'alluring', 'prideful', even 'condescending'.<p>

Sadly, 'patient' was not one of those words, neither was 'understanding'.

"Ooh ooh!" her partner cried out in excitement. "Look look! I'm a sloth!"

And indeed, Cinder's partner was doing her best imitation of a sloth, by hanging from a tree with one arm as she mimed eating leaves.

Cinder tapped her heeled foot upon the dirt ground in impatience, her already short temperance wearing thin as he partner continued to mess around instead of following her lead.

"Let's go, Nora" Cinder said as she stalked off, trying with all her might to ignore the antics of the bubbly girl.

"Okie-Dokie Cindy!" Nora declared, suddenly in front of Cinder and giving her a straight-faced salute.

Cindy gave the chirpy girl a glare. "Don't... Call me 'Cindy'" she said as she brushed past Nora and continued searching for her wayward Knight.

"Okay!" Nora said as she easily kept pace with Cinder.

The two of them made it to thirty seconds of silent walking before Nora began speaking once more.

"So I have a best friend named Ren, he's here too, but I haven't been able to find him" her shoulders drooped slightly. "We've been together since we were kids, but we're not together-together" Nora gained a thoughtful look on her face, a hand coming up to cup her chin. "We're just _together_" she concluded, nodding to herself.

Cinder cocked an eyebrow at Nora's sudden admission, some of the hostility leaving her body as she continued walking.

"Do you have a friend here as well?" Nora asked.

"Hmm?" Cinder made a sound at the back of her throat. "...I have my knight in shining armor here"

Nora gave a squeal of glee at her answer, her fists coming up to cup her own face as she posed with her left leg off the ground, imaginary hearts bursting into creation behind her.

All of Cinder's diminished hostility was regained in a second as she gave Nora a disapproving glare.

Cinder gave a roll of her eyes. "Stop that. We need to find a relic"

"Yup!" Nora declared, fist thrust into the air. "Let's go find treasure!"

With that, Nora grabbed a surprised Cinder by the hand, and began to run, tugging Cinder along.

Even more surprising was the fact that Cinder was able to keep up with Nora's pace, somehow crossing great distances in leaps and bounds in two inch heels.

Nora suddenly stopped catching Cinder off guard, causing her to ram into Nora's back, sending the hammer-wielder sprawled on the ground, while Cinder rolled once and landed in a crouch with one slender leg extended to the side.

Looking up from her crouched position, Cinder swiftly turned to what had stopped her partner in her tracks;

There was a duo of Ursas standing before the two of them.

The two Grimm simultaneously roared, spittle flying through the air, only to sizzle as it made contact with the fire dust coating of Cinder's dress.

Cinder gave a sigh as with a flick of her wrists and a burst of flame dust, she summoned her twin scimitars. The black blades gleamed in the sunlight as she rolled her wrists, eyeing the two Ursas with disinterest.

But before she even got close enough to stab either one, there was a great cry behind her, and then there was a chain of explosions.

The position of the two Ursas was suddenly bombarded by a literal barrage of explosions. Cinder looked over her shoulder to see Nora back on her feet and her large hammer had transformed into a grenade launcher spewing death.

All the while, Nora was laughing maniacally.

Cinder suddenly twisted backwards through the air in a jump as an enraged Ursa charged through the dust clouds created by Nora's explosions.

While in the air, Cinder corkscrewed and transformed her weapon at the same time; bring the two hilts together to form a longbow with three arrows already notched.

As she landed, she fired the three black fire dust arrows from her bow; the first arrow skimmed past the Ursa's head, leaving a long gash upon the bone skull, the second arrow embedded itself into the knee, and the final shot entered to the right of its meaty midsection.

The Ursa gave a roar of pain as it staggered its charge as the arrow in its knee checked its forward momentum, causing it to trip over its own feet and fall forward.

It is as it was falling forward that Cinder changed her bow back to her swords and brought them up, crisscrossing them.

With a sidestep and a flick of her wrists, Cinder easily beheaded the flailing Ursa, before dissipating her weapons in a flash of fire.

"Yeehaw!"

Cinder turned around to see Nora riding on top of the second Ursa of all things. One hand held onto one of the spikes protruding from the back, while the other hand held her grenade launcher, firing grenades into the air to explode up on high like fireworks.

Cinder watched as the Ursa gave a roar of anger and began attempting to shake Nora off.

That only seemed to excite Nora more as she gave another cheer, still riding on the shoulders of the Ursa.

Cinder continued watching as the Ursa roared again, and then charged off, with Nora still on top of it, uprooting trees as it crashed its way through the forest with the exuberant girl on top of it.

Once the girl and the Grimm were out of view, Cinder turned around, and began walking the opposite direction, finally able to search for Jaune without interruptions.

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><p>"It appears the last pair has been formed, headmaster"<p>

Professor Glynda Goodwitch did not look up from her scroll as she spoke, instead, with several quick taps, switched view to another pair in the forest.

"It appears there may be some internal tensions between the two.." Glynda switched view one last time to a girl in bronze armor. "Though they are not the only pair with issues"

"Mmmm..." Went Ozpin's acknowledgment of her observations.

He too was watching the initiates upon his own tablet, though he was more focused up on two different pairs; a boy with a black and grey style motif and his partner, a tall redhead with a bronze shield strapped to her back.

The second screen showed a girl with mint-green hair tapping her foot as a girl in white with an off-set pony-tail walked in circles.

"These two came from Vacuo?" Ozpin mumbled to himself, more a question than a statement.

"What was that, sir?"

"Hmm?" Ozpin faked confusion. "I was just thinking up team names"

Ozpin didn't have to turn around to see the frown upon Glynda's face.

"I understand the need to test the students, but don't you think sending them into the Emerald Forest on the first day is a little excessive?"

"I think this year's batch of students will be more... interesting, to say the least"

* * *

><p>"What do you think the odds of the relic being inside here?"<p>

"..."

"Is that a 'yes' or a 'no'?"

"..."

"Well, this was somewhat north... plus there are some weird drawings at the entrance"

"..."

You're not going to make this easy, are you?" Jaune asked with a sigh as he turned to his partner.

"..." She only smiled magnanimously in reply, though her heterochromia eyes flickered for a moment, shifting from pink to brown and then back to pink so fast Jaune almost didn't catch it.

"Okay..." Jaune breathed out with a sigh.

So far, talking to his partner was like talking to dirt, that is, if said dirt was five feet nothing and looked slightly eccentric.

Oh she also wielded a somewhat frilly parasol.

Though it did give her a look of elegance when she sat down upon the log, unfurling her 'weapon' to block the sun. One leg crossed primly over the other as she regarded Jaune with a half-smile that reminded him far too much of Cinder... or his sisters.

His partner gave a flip of her head to get a lock of pink hair out of the way, still watching Jaune, the smile still on her face.

It was being to unnerve Jaune slightly; with the lack of communication between the two of them, the one-sided conversations, and the way her eyes watched him like a hawk.

"So you uh, still haven't told me your name" Jaune spoke to fill the silence between them, so he was unprepared when he received an answer.

_[Neo]_

"Who! Whoa!" Jaune jumped slightly, wildly looking around as he nearly drew out his sword at the sudden words.

Jaune's eyes lit up a he realized who had answered his question.

Neo remained sitting before him, but now her free hand held her scroll, and with a tap of the screen, the female voice synthesizer repeated the one word; _[Neo]_.

"Neo, huh? Well I said it earlier, but I'm Jaune Arc" Jaune stuck out his hand to shake.

Neo glanced at it momentarily before she answered in kind, her dainty little hand almost disappeared in Jaune's firm grip.

They're sudden moment was ruined as Jaune nearly lost his footing as the ground rumbled and shook.

"What the-?" Jaune breathed out, widening his stance as he scanned the area.

Neo too had gotten up from her spot on the fallen tree, parasol held to the side, eyes flickering between pink and brown.

"Did you hear that?" Jaune asked, head cocked, trying to pick up sound over the noise of crashing rocks, even as he continued watching his surroundings. "Is that... screaming?"

It was indeed the sound of a girl screaming.

"..!" Neo suddenly spun around to face the cave they had ended up not entering.

Jaune turned around as well, just in time to see the source of the screaming race out of the cave.

The girl apparently didn't even notice them as she ran straight into Neo, sending the shorter girl sprawled upon the floor with her on top.

Jaune turned back to the cave as the rumbling got louder, and then something burst out from the cave, like a newborn chick coming out of its shell.

It was a massive Grimm.

A giant Deathstalker to be precise, with a black exoskeleton and bone white plating all over it, large vicious pincers, tufts of grass caught in between the plating, and a glowing stinger.

That had a recognizable girl in white hanging from it for dear life.

Before said girl disappeared over the treetops as the deathstalker swung its tail back and forth and she lost her grip.

"Oh..." Jaune eyed the Grimm before them.

"Well Dust..."

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><p>There wasn't much in life so far that could scare Jaune, of course, from time to time when he was younger and was messing with his sisters, he would take it a tad too far and they would exact punishment upon him, there was that time he went to the Signal Academy Dance with Yang Xiao Long <em>-as friends<em> - instead of with Cinder (because apparently when she said she "Didn't want to go", it actually meant she did indeed want to go). There was also that one time where he had almost drown because dad threw him into the deep end when he was four.

But none of those times compared to being chased by an extremely old and extremely dangerous Deathstalker.

Well, maybe that mess-up with Cinder about Yang, but the rest of the night had gone _extremely_ well with Cinder after he had gotten himself out of the tree he had hidden in for several hours and she had somewhat cooled off.

But back to the Deathstalker.

Jaune was currently running for his life, weaving in between trees as he ran through the forest, on either side of him was Neo and an unnamed girl with light-green hair.

And behind them was the Deathstalker, thundering and crushing trees as it skittered after its prey.

Namely them.

Jaune didn't have the time to look behind him, but from how the ground thundered, he could hazard a guess that the deathstalker was pretty close.

Then suddenly, there were no more trees, and Jaune found himself in a wide open clearing.

Passing through the middle of said clearing, and once on the other side amongst the trees once more, Jaune realized there was no longer the sound of the Deathstalker behind them; the ground shaking was receding, and so was the sound of trees being uprooted.

Turning around, Jaune looked back the way he and the two others had come from.

From in between the trees, he could make out the Deathstalker fighting something in the clearing they had passed through.

Jaune's eyes widened as he realized just what the Deathstalker was in the midst of combat with...

It was the three of them.

But that didn't make sense, since the three of them were currently hiding behind three separate trees watching the fight.

He shared a look of confusion with the mint green haired girl before the two of them turned to Jaune's partner, Neo.

Said girl had the biggest smile upon her face, her eyes shifting so that both eyes were pink now. She gave a twirl of her parasol before having it rest upon her shoulder.

She then turned around and began to walk away from Jaune, the other girl, and the distracted Deathstalker.

**GREEERRR!**

Jaune quickly turned back to the clearing, thinking the worst, that the Deathstalker was not fooled and was now more than just angry at the three of them.

But luckily for Jaune, the deathstalker was still in fact fooled. The deceit was so well done that the creature had given a cry of anger before chasing Not-Jaune, Not-Neo, and Not-other girl back the other way. The sound of its carnage through the forest receding as the seconds passed.

**TWEEET**!

There was the sharp sound of whistle, and Jaune once more turned around to see his partner still smirking at him, but now with her parasol extended and pointing behind her.

She gave a flip of her arm before having it point in the same direction of her parasol, palm up. Signalling to him; 'after you'.

Jaune took a second to look at his new partner, then back to where the deathstalker had disappeared, then at the other girl who still remained unnamed, and then finally back to Neo.

Jaune could only give a smile to Neo. "Thanks for the save, Neo" he said as he moved passed her.

"Yeah, thanks" the other girl said as she made to follow past Neo.

But unnoticed by Jaune, Neo stopped the other girl before she made it past her by retracting her parasol to block the other girl.

"Huh?" the mint-haired girl asked, giving Neo a confused look.

Neo said nothing, but shifted position to be standing in front of her now.

The two delved into an impromptu staring contest for several seconds before Neo raised the hand not holding the parasol up to chest height with its palm up.

The other girl, understanding the gesture; "I have no idea of what you're talking about..."

Neo said nothing, but remained blocking her way before she gave an exasperated sigh, but remained blocking her way.

"We're going to get behind" mint-hair noted as she looked over Neo's shoulder. "Your partner is going to start asking..."

She trailed off as she took in exactly what her eyes were telling her; up ahead was Jaune, and walking calmly beside him was Neo... and beside Neo was... herself... but her eyes shifted back, Neo was currently blocking her way! And she was sure as Monty that she wasn't walking anywhere and that Neo and her were currently facing off each other, and most definitely not continuing through the forest!

She turned back to the Neo walking beside Jaune to see that one turn to look over her should at her, a victorious smirk upon her face before she brought her hand up and showed her what was currently in it; to her shock, it was a plain black wallet.

The same wallet she had lifted from Jaune's pockets not a minute earlier in fact.

Suddenly, the version of herself currently walking beside Neo shattered into a million pieces of glass before dissipating into the air.

She turned back to the Neo blocking her way.

This one gave her a cheeky little wave before it too shattered and disappeared from existence, and she was left standing on her own in shock as Jaune and Neo got further and further away.

With a start, she sprinted forward to catch up with the other two before ending up on Jaune's other side.

Jaune shot her a glance from the corner of his eye before he gave her a look of confusion.

"Weren't you on Neo's other side?"

"What? No" she answered.

"I could have sworn you were..." Jaune said as he cast a glance to Neo's other side to check indeed that she was not there, but currently beside him.

Jaune shook his head before turning back forwards and continuing on his way in search of a relic.

Behind Jaune's back, she shot a glare at Neo, who responded by sticking her tongue out at her.

"That reminds me, I never introduced myself" Jaune said as he gave her a welcoming smile. "The name's Jaune Arc, short and sweet"

"Emerald Sustrai" the mint-haired girl answered in turn.

"Nice to meet you"

"Likewise"

"Oh, and that's Neo" Jaune said with a jerk of his head at the parasol wielding girl. "She doesn't say much"

"Hi..." Emerald said coolly, begrudgingly offering her hand to shake.

Neo took the proffered hand and shook it with the regality of a visiting queen.

Emerald gave a strained smile, well, it was more like a showing of bared teeth at Neo than an actual smile, and by 'strained' that means her mouth twitched upwards in a parody of a smile as she attempted to crush the bones in Neo's little hand.

Neo appeared to understand Emerald's efforts and locked glares with her as she too attempted to cause as much physical pain with her handshake.

Jaune was completely oblivious to all of this as he was too busy studying the trees and the sky.

"I think it was this way your partner flew..." He said as he pointed to the right from which they had been running. "Yeah... We better hurry, we should make sure she's okay, plus, I think that's where we should head to find the relics"

"I'm sure the princess is fine" Emerald said offhandedly, apparently done trying to break Neo's hand anymore and now just ignoring her. "She said she could take on anything the forest threw at her, who am I to disagree?"

* * *

><p>Said princess was not <em>fine<em>.

In fact, she was far from it indeed!

She was currently flying through the air a second time after being unceremoniously flung from the tail end of one Deathstalker.

All because she placed an ounce of trust in that mint-haired girl!

She knew she should have been the one taking charge. As a Schnee, she had already taken courses in management and leadership from private tutors, and she was pretty sure she could run the family company for Monty sake, so taking command of three hunters/huntresses in training would be a piece of cake.

It was just as she was about to call up some glyphs to slow redirect herself did she feel something suddenly grab her around the waist.

And then, Weiss was being lifted away and now she found herself clutching feathers on the back of a Nevermore of all things.

"Nice job, Blake!"

Weiss looked up from her position to see her would-be saviors; two people she distinctly remember from yesterday; the girl with the red cape who blew up several thousand lien of dust, and the girl with the bow who had insinuated that her father's company did not pay its workers properly.

Well the workers were only paid what they were due, if they wanted more, they should work harder!

Weiss was getting sidetracked, the two girls were called Ruby and Blake if she recalled correctly from last night.

Although she was somewhat grateful for the assist, it did not explain why in all of Remnant were the two of them currently riding on a Nevermore.

"Why are we on a Nevermore!?"

"Well, it was Ruby's idea, and it's much faster than running" Blake had to shout to be heard.

"Well it's a terrible idea!" Weiss shouted as she closed her eyes from a large jolt of the Nevermore. "Terrible, terrible idea!"

"Hey!" Ruby cried indignantly. "If it we weren't on the Nevermore, who would have saved you?!"

"I would much rather be free-falling, thank you very much!" Weiss snapped.

"You can just jump then" Blake noted.

"You guys want to jump now!?" Ruby asked, completely mishearing. "Okay, let's jump!"

"Are you **insane**!" Weiss asked, looking up from her spot, but only to find herself alone on the Nevermore. "...You have **got **to be **kidding me**!"

But alas, it was all too real as Ruby and her partner Blake plummeted to the ground, leaving her alone on board Nevermore Airways.

"Oh, I am going to _so_ regret this" Weiss said as she looking down while gnawing at her bottom lip.

With that, she released her hold on the Nevermore's back and fell gracefully off.

* * *

><p>"Do you see that?" a female voice asked.<p>

"See what?" a bored male voice answered.

"Someone's in trouble!" the female said, pointing into the far distance.

So far actually that the male couldn't even tell what she was pointing at.

"I don't see-" he began, but before he even finished his sentence, his partner was already moving.

She took several steps forward before unclasping her weapon, it extended into a short spear, a javelin.

She fully extended her left arm out front before raising her thumb, using it as a rough aim assessment, her tongue poked out of her mouth as she concentrated for several seconds before with a great heave, she threw her spear from her other hand into the far distance at a target only she saw.

* * *

><p><strong>And that's a wrap for this part, Part 2 will be out... eventually.<strong>

**Anyway, as you can see, the teams have been switched up tremendously, and we got an entire ensemble of characters here. Also, you can see how I switched/ wandered away from just Jaune's POV, well, I felt like flushing everyone out character wise.**

**Sadly, it would appear that my rewrite of The Gamer will not be until next year, with exams still going on, work, and family.**

**Anyway, who can guess what are the teams, and who is on which team? I'll give a hint by showing the team names:**

**Team Jaune**

**Team Pumpkin**

**Team Raspberry**

**Everyone, have a nice day, and I hope you enjoyed reading!**

**Desodus**


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